Tower Closet
by Tohdoh
Summary: Rapunzel rejoices in finally having company, even if he only had one eye. [Oneshot. Inspired by Tangled x Monsters Inc. gifset on Tumblr.]


**Tower Closet**

Mike stumbled into a room unlike anything he had ever seen. The first thing he saw was hair. Lots and lots of it. His one eye could only take in so much at once. It took him several seconds to follow it in all directions around the room until he could finally pinpoint the source of the hair: a teenage girl who quietly huddled behind her tresses. Mike simply stared back. By now he was used to the plain sight of humans and it no longer fazed him, but this girl struck him as very unusual. He couldn't get over the insane length of her hair. It took up most of the room like thick spools of golden thread.

She continued to ogle at him with wide, curious green eyes. She appeared to be more curious than afraid. After what seemed like a long stretch of awkward silence, the girl stepped out from behind her own hair and raised a hand in an attempted greeting.

"Hello there," she said. "Who might you be...?" The tiny green lizard perched on her shoulder peered at Mike with just as much curiosity.

He cracked a smile and waved a hand in return. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you. It's okay, I'm not here to hurt you."

"Oh, I wasn't scared," the teenage girl assured him. "I'm Rapunzel, by the way."

"Mike Wazowski, but you can just call me Mike."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Mike. I'm just surprised. This is the first time I've ever had a visitor from the outside world, you see."

"Really?" Mike's heart went out to her. "You must be very lonely."

She shrugged and tried to smile back. "Well, I have Pascal who keeps me company." She affectionately patted the chameleon on her shoulder and tjrned to look back at Mike. "I have to admit, though...it's nice to have someone else to talk to for a change. I've only ever talked with my mother. She keeps me in this tower to keep me safe. She told me that the outside world is a dangerous and scary place."

Mike's eye roved around once more. "So this is a tower," he remarked with surprie. Then he chuckled. "The outside world isn't that bad. Not anymore, anyway. We monsters used to make a living and get our energy out of scaring young humans like you. We used to be the monsters under the beds and behind the closets that you used to fear so much. Now we've learned that laughter goes a long way, for both you and us."

Rapunzel gave him a blank stare, and Mike realized that she didn't understand much of what he just told her.

He waved his hands dismissively. "Anyways, I came here with the hopes of entertaining you."

Rapunzel's face brightened. "Oh, that sounds wonderful. What are you going to do, Mike?"

He frowned. "To be honest, I have no idea. I didn't know what to expect when I came through your closet." Mike was usually armed with his usual stand-up comedian act, but he doubt that Rapunzel would understand much of his jokes, let alone get a good laugh out of them. The poor girl had never stepped out of her tower, after all. He could tell that she wasn't exactly attuned with social cues. There was no way he'd leave this tower making Rapunzel feel lonely again. He felt that he had to do something.

His eye lingered on her hair, and at the same time a lightbulb lit up in his head. "You don't mind if I borrow some of your hair, do you, Rapunzel?"

"As long as you don't cut or tear it, I think you'd be fine."

Without further ado, Mike scooped up the ends of her hair and began wrapping it around his green globular body. He kept turning around and around, gathering more of her hair like a roll. He finally stopped inches from Rapunzel, just before the roots of her hair would grow taut from him being so close to her. His voice came out muffled yet dramatic.

"Ever seen a spinning monster top? The one and only Mike Wazowski will show you how it's done. Let it rip, Rapunzel!"

"Sure thing," she replied with a giggle. With both hands she grasped at the hair between her and Mike, and jerked back as hard as she could. The force of the pull sent Mike spinning away so fast that he was a whizzing green blur. He spun all around her room, bumping against the walls and various furtniture. All the while he whooped. Rapunzel burst out laughing and clutched her sides. She had never seen anything so funny and amusing. Pascal also doubled over in laughter, his long tongue lolling from his opwn mouth. It took a long time before Mike finally slowed down. He tottered back and forth on shaky legs, feeling quite dazed and dizzy.

Rapunzel rushed forward with concern. "Mike, are you all right?"

"Oh yeah, I'll be fine," he managed to say as she held him steady. He wiped the back of his hand across his forehead. "Whoo, that was crazy."

"It sure looked that way. I guess you're used to doing these crazy acts."

"Yeah, you could say that." Mike recovered and beamed back at Rapunzel. "I heard you laughing all the while. I'm glad I could put a smile on your face today."

"And I'm so glad you came," Rapunzel replied with sincere gratitude. "You really made my day. I could say that I made a one-eyed friend."

"I know a lot of monsters with crazy hair, but none with hair as long as yours. I don't think I'll forget you in a hurry, Rapunzel." Mike was loath to leave her, but he had work to do. He made his way to her closet. "I'm really sorry, Rapunzel, but I have to go. I need to get more laughs out of some kids. I'll be sure to tell my boss to keep your closet open so my colleagues can visit you next time."

"Thank you Mike, that would be very nice."

They shook hands, and with that they parted ways as Mike crossed the boundary between the worlds that connected him and his new friend with magic hair. As he stepped back into the monster world, the first thing he saw was the cannister, filled to the brim with energy from Rapunzel's laughter. That brought a smile to his face. Mike had the best job in the world.


End file.
